Here's how to make the most of these special dates.
What is a supermoon?
A supermoon is a full moon that happens at or near the Moon's closest approach to Earth.
The Moon travels around us in an ellipse, with Earth at one focus. That ellipse has a long axis, with apogee (furthest from Earth) at one end and perigee (nearest to Earth) at the other, and the Moon passes through both every month. Every so often, perigee lands close to a full moon.
The result: a supermoon.
When can you see one?
Three full moons this season qualify, with a bonus in February:
Date (NSW) Name Distance from Earth
Wed 25 November Beaver Moon about 360,800 km
Thu 24 December Cold Moon about 356,700 km (closest of the lot)
Fri 22 January Wolf Moon about 357,600 km
Sat 20 February Snow Moon 362,326 km, with a penumbral eclipse
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What to expect
A full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, so it's visible all night from anywhere it's dark, weather permitting.
Size: up to 14% bigger than a micromoon (a full moon at its furthest point).
Brightness: up to 30% brighter than a micromoon.
Fair warning: put a supermoon next to an ordinary full moon and you'd struggle to pick the difference by eye. The brightness is what you'll notice.
Where to see it
If you want to catch the actual moonrise, any coastal position or headland is perfect.
Moonrise over the ocean is always special. If you're happy to skip that, just about anywhere will do.
A supermoon is noticeably bright and can be hard to look at directly, although you probably won't need sunglasses.
Taking photos?
Switch your camera to PRO mode and wind the ISO and shutter speed right back
Coffs Harbour has some spectacular features and structures to frame the shot, and the contrast of the not-quite-dark as the moon rises works in your favour.
Good luck!
Fun facts
The Moon's average distance from Earth is 384,400 km.
To count as a supermoon, the full moon has to occur while the Moon is in the closest 10% of its orbital distance range.
Right now the Moon's orbit lines up so that supermoons fall in the southern summer.
But the orbit itself slowly rotates (precesses), so supermoons arrive later in the calendar each year.
They come in groups of two to four, with the middle full moon the closest to perigee.This season's group is November, December and January, with an outlier in February.
In 2028 it's January, February and March.Earth is also close to its nearest approach to the Sun in early January.
Combined with a supermoon, that makes for very large tides around the full moon.
In Coffs Harbour, high tide often exceeds 2 metres for a couple of days either side, so check tide times before heading for the rocks.
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Notes
Micromoon: a full moon that occurs when the Moon is at or near apogee, the far end of its orbit.
Main source: NASA. Distances cross-checked against Fred Espenak's Astropixels supermoon tables. Accessed 5 November 2026.
